COLD JUSTICE

A Davenport, Iowa, jury convicted terminal-cancer patient Benton Mackenzie, 48, in July on four marijuana-growing felonies, even though his purpose was to harvest cannabis oil to treat his bloody lesions and a tumor on his buttocks. The judge had barred Mackenzie and his lawyer from even mentioning the illness in court — because of a 2005 Iowa precedent (even though the Iowa legislature has since allowed medical marijuana to treat seizures). Mackenzie’s wife, his 73-year-old parents, his son and a friend were also charged with assisting Mackenzie’s “operation” (though Mackenzie was almost surely the only “customer”). Mackenzie, who testified and was, of course, sworn to tell “the whole truth,” said he was “flabbergasted” to learn that “the whole truth” excludes anything about his illness.